The Holy Thursday liturgy is a "vesperal" liturgy, which means that it is technically a "friday" liturgy, regardless of what time of day it is celebrated even though it is intended to be served in the evening.

Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a particular kind of silence, i.e. by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held. However, before the twelfth century it was the custom to celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Great Friday.

Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a particular kind of silence, i.e. by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held. However, before the twelfth century it was the custom to celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Great Friday.

The Roman Catholic Church still celebrates its version of the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Good Friday.

Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a particular kind of silence, i.e. by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held. However, before the twelfth century it was the custom to celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Great Friday.

But Great Saturday does have a eucharistic assembly. Happened to be the first Orthodox service I ever attended, in fact.

(I'm referring to the morning liturgy with all the OT prophecies)

Logged

Apart from moral conduct, all that man thinks himself able to do in order to become acceptable to God is mere superstition and religious folly. - Immanuel Kant

But Great Saturday does have a eucharistic assembly. Happened to be the first Orthodox service I ever attended, in fact.

(I'm referring to the morning liturgy with all the OT prophecies)

That's technically a "vesperal" liturgy too, making it technically a Paschal liturgy. It was actually used as the Paschal vigil at one point in time and it was during the OT readings that the catechumens were baptized.

Such is the double mystery of Holy Friday, and its services reveal itand make us participate in it. On the one hand, there is the constantemphasis on the Passion of Christ as the sin of all sins, the crime ofall crimes. Throughout Orthros during which the twelve Passion readingsmake us follow step by step the sufferings of Christ, at the Hours(which replace the Divine Liturgy: for the interdiction to celebrateEucharist on this day means that the sacrament of Christ's Presencedoes not belong to "this world" of sin and darkness, but is thesacrament of the "world to come") and finally, at Vespers, the serviceof Christ's burial the hymns and readings are full of solemnaccusations of those, who willingly and freely decided to kill Christ,justifying this murder by their religion, their political loyalty,their practical considerations and their professional obedience.

The Holy Thursday liturgy is a "vesperal" liturgy, which means that it is technically a "friday" liturgy, regardless of what time of day it is celebrated even though it is intended to be served in the evening.

No. During Lent and Holy Week through Good Friday the Liturgical day runs midnight to midnight. So Vespers and Vesperal Liturgies served during this period are of the day they are served rather than the following day as normal. It reverts back to normal with Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil on Saturday which is the first service of Pascha.

But Great Saturday does have a eucharistic assembly. Happened to be the first Orthodox service I ever attended, in fact.

(I'm referring to the morning liturgy with all the OT prophecies)

There is no morning Liturgy of Great Saturday.

I suspect that you are referring to the old Paschal Vigil. When the "new" Paschal Vigil was introduced in the 7th-8th century, the ancient vigil, which was common to east and west (in fact, many modern western Christians would recognise many elements of it from their Easter Vigil), was moved to the late afternoon/early evening, and combined with the service of Vespers, effectively giving us the situation where we have two Paschal Vigils.

This is still the pattern that prevails today. The Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday is actually the first Liturgy of the Resurrection, and the typikon stipulates that it is to be served at "about the tenth hour of the day", which is about 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

In most parishes, however, it is served somewhat earlier. I suspect that this is out of economia, to give the priest sufficient rest before the very strenuous night services, or perhaps to give people a chance to prepare the church for the night services, food for the feast after the night vigil, and so forth. My parish serves this Vesperal Liturgy at about 2 o' clock in the afternoon, but I know that many parishes do sometimes go as early as the morning. This does not make it a morning Liturgy: it is just a pastoral concession in some places.

M

« Last Edit: May 24, 2012, 02:28:30 PM by Subdeacon Michael »

Logged

'If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved.' - St John (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis

But Great Saturday does have a eucharistic assembly. Happened to be the first Orthodox service I ever attended, in fact.

(I'm referring to the morning liturgy with all the OT prophecies)

There is no morning Liturgy of Great Saturday.

I suspect that you are referring to the old Paschal Vigil. When the "new" Paschal Vigil was introduced in the 7th-8th century, the ancient vigil, which was common to east and west (in fact, many modern western Christians would recognise many elements of it from their Easter Vigil), was moved to the late afternoon/early evening, and combined with the service of Vespers, effectively giving us the situation where we have two Paschal Vigils.

This is still the pattern that prevails today. The Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday is actually the first Liturgy of the Resurrection, and the typikon stipulates that it is to be served at "about the tenth hour of the day", which is about 4 o' clock in the afternoon.

In most parishes, however, it is served somewhat earlier. I suspect that this is out of economia, to give the priest sufficient rest before the very strenuous night services, or perhaps to give people a chance to prepare the church for the night services, food for the feast after the night vigil, and so forth. My parish serves this Vesperal Liturgy at about 2 o' clock in the afternoon, but I know that many parishes do sometimes go as early as the morning. This does not make it a morning Liturgy: it is just a pastoral concession in some places.

M

Thanks, I was wondering about this Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday morning."Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered" sounds so Paschal.

Logged

The memory of God should be treasured in our hearts like the precious pearl mentioned in the Holy Gospel. Our life's goal should be to nurture and contemplate God always within, and never let it depart, for this steadfastness will drive demons away from us. - Paraphrased from St. Philotheus of Sinai Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart,Translated from the Russian by E. Kadloubovksy and G.E.H. Palmer, Faber and Faber, London, Boston, 1992 printing.

Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a particular kind of silence, i.e. by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held. However, before the twelfth century it was the custom to celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Great Friday.

The Roman Catholic Church still celebrates its version of the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Good Friday.

However, it has been so revised, especially after Vatican II, that it is hardly recognizable as the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy of old.

Logged

The memory of God should be treasured in our hearts like the precious pearl mentioned in the Holy Gospel. Our life's goal should be to nurture and contemplate God always within, and never let it depart, for this steadfastness will drive demons away from us. - Paraphrased from St. Philotheus of Sinai Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart,Translated from the Russian by E. Kadloubovksy and G.E.H. Palmer, Faber and Faber, London, Boston, 1992 printing.

But Great Saturday does have a eucharistic assembly. Happened to be the first Orthodox service I ever attended, in fact.

(I'm referring to the morning liturgy with all the OT prophecies)

That's technically a "vesperal" liturgy too, making it technically a Paschal liturgy. It was actually used as the Paschal vigil at one point in time and it was during the OT readings that the catechumens were baptized.

When I was in the RCC, they baptized the new converts on Holy Saturday. In recent years, the Saturday Mass has been held on Saturday evening, instead of just before midnight; I think that was to allow people to go home and rest, because a lot of the parishes near me have a mostly elderly population. Anyway, even though we lit candles and sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" on Saturday night, there was a separate Mass on the Paschal Sunday morning. I do miss the Vigil Mass from when I was kid...

When I was in the RCC, they baptized the new converts on Holy Saturday. In recent years, the Saturday Mass has been held on Saturday evening, instead of just before midnight; I on the Paschal Sunday morning.

I'm fairly sure that the modern roman rubrics stipulate that the vigil begin after sundown and end before sunrise. There is nothing to stop their parishes celebrating the vigil at night or in the early hours of the morning, and there are parishes that do just that.

M

Logged

'If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved.' - St John (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis